The editor of UK newspaper The Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, has asserted that only a tiny part of the material leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has entered into the public domain.
Rusbridger today testified in front of the Home Affairs Select Committee investigating the secrets revealed by Snowden, currently claiming political asylum in Russia.
The information obtained by the ex-NSA man, printed in The Guardian and US publications The New York Times and The Washington Post, laid bare wide-scale monitoring of communications by the security agency.
But according to the newspaper editor, those entrusted with the data ensured that nothing released would compromise national security.
Responding to a question from committee chair Keith Vaz, Rusbridger confirmed that only «1 percent» of material had been made public so far. He added that all names in files had been deleted before publication: «No data was lost, we lost control of no data. No names have leaked from the Guardian.»
Responding to Vaz’s question over whether he was a patriot or not, Rusbridger was emphatic.
«I’m slightly surprised to be asked the question,» he replied. «But, yes, we are patriots and one of the things we are patriotic about is the nature of democracy, the nature of a free press and the fact that one can in this country discuss and report these things.»
The editor also affirmed that his newspaper would continue to report on the information handed over by Snowden, if they deemed it in the public’s interest.
«We will continue to behave responsibly,» Rusbridger explained, «but we will not be put off by intimidation.»
Source: Buenos Aires Herald